The History of Nudity in Art

Ways of recording the naked human body have always been around, before photography this was done in ways such a sculpture, engravings, drawings & paintings.
Cave drawings & engraving of nude people have been found & are thought to be over 13000 years old, even though scientists suspect that humans have been wearing clothes for over 72000 years.
People have been drawn, painted, sculpted and photographed nude for many different reasons over the thousands of years that it has been being done, sometimes it is of a sexual nature but there are aslo many other reasons for it too.

Some of the reasons that people have be recorded naked is for study & academic reasons but others are:

Cavemen made nude female figures that were voluptuous & larger around the breast & hip areas to depict feminity & maternal nature. Having large hips & breasts was thought to show a woman that was able to bear & look after children well.

The Venus of Willendorf - estimated to have been made between 24,000 and 22,000 BC

The ancient Egyptian, Romans, & Greeks used nudity to depict wealth or lack of & as a sign of status. People that were recorded as wearing clothing were usually wealthy & of a high status but people such as servants, slaves & lower class were usually naked, showing that they couldn't afford clothing.

The ancient Romans & Greeks also did this to show godliness in man, as God was supposed to have made man in his own image. Athletes were commonly sculpted nude to show the full splendor of their physique, they trained to make there bodies as godlike as possible, The Greeks could think of no higher tribute to their gods than to imitate them. The ancient Greeks are thought to have trained naked & the word Gymnasium comes from the Greek word gymnos which means naked.



From the time of the Archaic period onwards the ancient Greeks also depicted heroes in a state of Heroic nakedness.



Throughout history the human body has been the main subject of artists & above all the main reason for nudity in art is to appreciate physical beauty.